Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network AREDN(tm) Firmware

http://www.arednmesh.org

About AREDN

AREDN wireless networks are deployed by licensed Amateur Radio operators, Technician Class or higher, under FCC Part 97 allocations adjacent to FCC part 15, unlicensed, WIFI, allocations. They are configured as ad-hoc nodes to form mesh networks. The firmware created below enables the effective use of valuable and dedicated frequencies for communication services to government and private relief organizations in times of disaster or other emergencies.

Amateur Radio frequencies are relatively clean of noise from the commercial allocations and ensure usability for Amateur Radio Operators. This firmware enables 802.11n wireless networks to be created and expanded with minimal to no pre-planning or IT expertise. A user can deploy a 'node' anywhere to connect in and extend an AREDN network. Device hardware options exist to provide sector coverage, build point-to-point links, and connect end point services to the network. High speed link rates are routinely achieved over long distances, e.g. 60Mbps+ on 10MHz channels over 80km links.

For further information on obtaining an Amateur Radio Technician Class license, please refer to http://www.arrl.org/getting-your-technician-license

Usage Information

What to know about the images built with the instructions below

This is the active 'develop' branch with latest AREDN code. At anytime a new change may be broken or break prior capabilities.

The Amateur Radio community is encouraged to participate in loading the images produced from a "nightly build" and run the AREDN firmware in a variety of environments. Given new features may not yet be documented, participants should already have a basic knowledge of Linux and Networking to understand and provide useful feedback to the Developer submitting the code.

The goal of participation is to obtain confidence that new features and the overall mesh node is stable. The more participation, the earlier an issue is found, the faster an enhancement will be turned into a release.

Here is a summary of significant features added since 3.18.9.0 was released:

• Locked to Openwrt 18.06.1
• Added RBLHG-5nD, RBLHG-5HPnD-XL, LBE-M5
• Standardized NS M2/M5 XW Ethernet port functionality

Please refer to https://github.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx/issues for a list of outstanding defects.

Images built

Device	Image to Use	RAM	Stability
AirGrid XM	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
AirGrid XW	loco-m-xw	32Mb	stable
AirRouter	airrouter	32Mb	stable
AirRouter HP	airrouter	32Mb	stable
Bullet M2/M2Ti/M5/M5Ti	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
Bullet Ti	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
Bullet M2 XW	rocket-m-xw	64Mb	stable
LiteBeam M5	lbe-m5	64Mb	stable
NanoBeam M2-13/M5-16/M5-19	loco-m-xw	32Mb	stable
NanoBridge 2G18	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
NanoBridge 5G22/25	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
NanoBridge M9	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
NanoStation Loco M2/M5/M9 XM	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
NanoStation Loco M2 XW	loco-m-xw	64Mb	stable
NanoStation Loco M5 XW with test date before ~Nov 2017	loco-m-xw	64Mb	stable
NanoStation Loco M5 XW with test date on or after ~Nov 2017	rocket-m-xw	64Mb	stable
NanoStation M2/M3/M5 XM	nano-m	32Mb	stable
NanoStation M2/M5 XW	nano-m-xw	64Mb	stable
PicoStation M2	bullet-m	32Mb	stable
PowerBeam-M2-400	loco-m-xw	64Mb	stable
PowerBeam-M5-300	loco-m-xw	64Mb	stable
PowerBeam-M5-400/400ISO/620	rocket-m-xw	64Mb	stable
PowerBridge	nano-m	64Mb	stable
Rocket M9/M2/M3/M5/M5GPS XM	rocket-m	64Mb	stable
Rocket M2/M5 XW	rocket-m-xw	64Mb	stable
Rocket M2 TI	rocket-m-ti?	64Mb	unknown
Rocket M5 TI	rocket-m-ti	64Mb	stable
TPLink CPE210 v1.0/v1.1	cpe210-220-v1	64Mb	stable
TPLink CPE210 v2.0	cpe210-v2	64Mb	stable
TPLink CPE210 v3.0	cpe210-v3	64Mb	stable
TPLink CPE510 v1.0/v1.1	cpe510-520-v1	64Mb	stable
TPLink CPE510 v2.0	cpe510-v2	64Mb	stable
Mikrotik Basebox RB912UAG-5HPnD/2HPnD	mikrotik-nand-large	64Mb	stable
Mikrotik hAP ac lite 952Ui-5ac2nD	mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M-ac	64Mb	stable
Mikrotik RBLHG-5nD	mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M	64Mb	stable
Mikrotik RBLHG-5HPnD-XL	mikrotik-rb-nor-flash-16M	64Mb	stable

Latest Mikrotik installation options are found at: https://www.arednmesh.org/content/installation-instructions-mikrotik-devices

Ethernet Port usage

The standard Ethernet port of an AREDN device uses the following vlan tags. An 802.1Q switch is necessary to utilize the vlan tagged networks:

• untagged: LAN devices - laptop, ipcam, voip phone, etc.
• vlan 1: WAN - gateway to connect AREDN network to home network and/or internet
• vlan 2: DtDLink (device to device) - AREDN network routing between nodes, typically cross band

The following devices have a peculiar port configuration due to a limitation in the Ethernet driver. The 'Main" port is used for LAN devices only. The "Secondary" port is WAN and DtDLink usage only. Depending on deployed usage, 2 cat5 cables may be needed.

• TP-Link CPE210 v1.0 and v1.1
• TP-Link CPE510 v1.0 and v1.1

The following devices have enhanced Ethernet port usage. A single cat5 to the device could be plugged into ether the 'main' or 'secondary' port with standard port functionality. Both ports can be used interchangeably and simultaneously with LAN devices on both ports at the same time. POE PassThough can be turned on in Advanced Settings to power ipCams or other mesh nodes.

• NanoStation M5 XW
• NanoStation M2 XW

The following devices have standard Main ports and non-functional Secondary Ports

• NanoStation M2 XM
• NanoStation M3 XM
• NanoStation M5 XM

Submitting Bug Reports

Please submit all issues to http://github.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx/issues

Developer Only Information

The AREDN firmware is based on OpenWrt with additional packages and patches. A Makefile automates the entire process to create firmware images.

Building with Docker

Installing the Docker environment on your windows/linux/mac machine is a pre-requisite. A docker 'container' has been pre-configured with an aredn linux build environment. Alternative instructions are below if you wish to setup your linux install with the compiler pre-requisites necessary to do the build.

To build with docker:

docker pull arednmesh/builder
docker run -it --name builder arednmesh/builder

To pull an image (or any other file) out of the docker container:

docker cp builder:/opt/aredn/aredn_ar71xx/firmware/targets/ar71xx/generic/<image>.bin <local directory>

Build Prerequisites

Please take a look at the OpenWrt documentation for a complete and up to date list of packages for your operating system.

On Ubuntu/Debian:

apt-get install git subversion build-essential libncurses5-dev \
  zlib1g-dev gawk unzip libxml-perl flex wget gettext quilt \
  python libssl-dev shellcheck lua5.1

On openSUSE:

zypper install --type pattern devel_basis
zypper install git subversion ncurses-devel zlib-devel gawk unzip \
  perl-libxml-perl flex wget gettext-runtime quilt python \
  libopenssl-devel shellcheck lua51

Building firmware images

To obtain the source and build the firmware locally use:

git clone https://github.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx.git
cd aredn_ar71xx
vi config.mk # enter your callsign, etc.
# build default ubnt and tplink images
make  
# build and add mikrotik images to firmware dir
make SUBTARGET=mikrotik

Building the images may take minutes or hours depending on the machine. For more details see build options.
Review the build options in config.mk: -j <number of cores + 1>. V=s will give more verbose error messages.

An internet connection is required during the build process. A good internet connection can improve the build time.

You need approximately 10GB of space for the build.

How to build prior builds of AREDN

Prior AREDN images can be rebuilt. Replace one of the following after the "cd aredn_ar71xx" command above:

AREDN release 3.18.9.0

git checkout 3.18.9.0

AREDN release 3.16.2.0

git checkout 3.16.2.0

AREDN release 3.16.1.1

git checkout 3.16.1.1-make

AREDN build 176

git checkout 91ee867

Return to most current changes

git checkout develop

Directory Layout

Included in the git Repo:
config.mk    <- build settings
openwrt.mk   <- which openwrt repo and branch/tag/commit to use
feeds.conf/  <- custom package feeds (edit to point to your clone of aredn_packages)
files/       <- file system in AERDN created images, most customizations go here
patches/     <- patches to openwrt go here 
scripts/     <- tests and other scripts called from the build 
configs/     <- definitions of features in the devices' kernel and what packages to include
Makefile     <- the build definition
README.md    <- this file

Created by the build:
openwrt/     <- cloned openwrt repository
firmware/    <- the build will place the images here
results/     <- code checks and other test results in jUnit xml format

Patches with quilt

The patches directory contains quilt patches applied on top of the openwrt git repo defined in config.mk.

If a patch is not yet included upstream, it can be placed in the patches directory with the quilt tool. Please configure quilt as described in OpenWrt Quilt.

Add, modify or delete a patch

Switch to the openwrt directory:

cd openwrt

Now you can use the quilt commands.

Example: add a patch

quilt push -a                 # apply all patches
quilt new 008-awesome.patch   # tell quilt to create a new patch
quilt edit somedir/somefile1  # edit files
quilt edit somedir/somefile2
quilt refresh                 # creates/updates the patch file

Submitting new features and patches to AREDN

The high level steps to submit to this repository https://github.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx are:

1. create a github account and 'fork' this repo
2. git commit a change into your fork, e.g. http://github.com/ae6xe/aredn_ar71xx
3. create a pull request for http://github.com/aredn/aredn_ar71xx to consider your change